Renato Canuto has just moved to 2-0 in his professional MMA career with yet another dominant win at Tuff-N-Uff 149 on October 25th, 2025. It’s still very early for Canuto and although he’s been preparing to make the transition for several years, he only made his debut at Tuff-N-Uff 144 just 5 months ago. That fight was over incredibly quickly though, as it took Canuto just 51 seconds to finish his opponent with strikes and register his first win. That debut performance really couldn’t have gone any better and it was hard to imagine that Canuto would be able to improve upon it in his second outing.
Somehow, Canuto managed to do the impossible and finish his second opponent in even less time. He was fighting Caleb Contreras and once again, he chose to work on his striking rather than relying on his elite grappling. That proved to be just as much of a good decision as it was in his first fight, as Canuto found the finish in 47 seconds. The finishing sequence did come off the back of a big suplex but Canuto didn’t even attempt to hunt the submission; focusing in ground and pound instead. He landed multiple punches on Contreras but the finishing blows came when he stood up and hammered home a pair of soccer kicks to the body.
It’s a technique that isn’t seen all that often in modern MMA and is reminiscent of the older days of Vale Tudo fights in Brazilian arenas. It’s something that Canuto has made use of before though, as his first fight was ended by the exact same strikes. Now he’ll be looking forward to his next outing and it’s no exaggeration to say that he suffered no damage, so he could step into the cage again pretty soon. When he does he will almost certainly have one eye on a move to the UFC, as it won’t be long before they come calling if he keeps up this incredible run.
Renato Canuto shared the footage of his finish at Tuff-N-Uff 149 in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
